[Zope] Zope Zeo Performance

[FuBuJo]

Hello. I've thumbed through the list for Zope Zeo performance issues similar to
mine - but have found a lot of conflicting information - so I thought I'd ask
(and keep reading and experimenting).

Zope - 2.7.x (Zeo) Apache 2.x Zope is using Plone (2.0.x)

Basically I have a high traffic (high performance) Apache -> Zeo -> Zope(ZODB)
setup. 10 Apache/Zeo boxes - and one big old Zope/ZODB box. The equipment is
high end DELLs (well as of 3 years ago) - all running FreeBSD (we tried Red Hat
but it blows up - but thats another post).

Anywho - if your still reading thanks.  We know Plone and code is a major issue
- and we are working on a migration plan to 3.  But it the meantime ...

The traffic is heavy write traffic (I read some of Dieters posts and am testing
that out as well). Once overall load hits about 100 people or so the Zeo's start
dying - heavy load, slow response, python takes all CPU/Memory.  Then when
traffic is removed from the ZEO instance ... the system remains CPU bound by the
python process ... and you have to bounce Zope(Zeo instance) and Apache to free
it.

The ZODB reports heavy Clients waiting ... but doesn't budge on load.

So ... anyone have any suggestions.

I can throw 10 more Apache/Zeo instances as it - but not sure if that's the
right approach. So I guess here's my questions.

1. Is there a Zeo Client limit you can have when connecting to a Zope(Zeo
Server) instance? 2. Are there any special setting to allow for 'many' Zeo
clients connecting to Zeo server? 3. Are there any 'tweak' on the Zeo Client
side or the Zeo Server side that I should consider? I've reviewed quite a bit on
confirguration ... but nothing seems to really make a difference. 4. Anyone have
any special 'high performance' tricks / tips they can point me to?

I'll continue to read and research ... but any information would be helpful.

Thanks -FuBuJo